Because of the world's increasing demand for petroleum products, it has been desirable to find alternative hydrocarbon feedstock for fuel. For example, it is known to convert coal to liquid fuels using a family of processes known as coal liquefaction. Such processes are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,683, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference. It is also known to upgrade liquid hydrocarbon to fuel-quality products. Such processes are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,505, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
Many current liquefaction and hydrocarbon upgrading processes are practically and/or economically unable to meet the scale required for commercial production. Although it is desirable that the processing be done on a continuous basis, the system periodically needs to be stopped, shut down, and vacuumed to remove carbon deposits within the system. Accordingly, improved systems for converting and upgrading hydrocarbon fuel products are needed.
This document describes methods and systems that are directed to the problems described above.